• An overwhelming majority of workers thought the following programs would be either Ne ws from E B R I very or somewhat helpful: help calculating how much to save for a secure retirement (75 percent), help calculating how much to anticipate spending each month in retirement (72 percent), planning for health care expenses in retirement (72 percent), and help with comprehensive financial planning (68 percent). Other financial well-being programs DATE: September 6, 2018 scored lower when it came to perceived helpfulness. Fewer than half of workers thought CONTACT: EBRI Media Relations – press-media@ebri.org debt counseling or budgeting help would be helpful. Notably, fewer than four in ten (39 Craig Copeland, author – copeland@ebri.org percent) workers thought student loan debt assistance programs would be helpful in preparing for retirement. However, younger workers were much more likely to perceive Workers Feel Stressed About Preparing for Retirement; these programs as being helpful than older workers. Employer Financial Well-being Programs Are Perceived to • A majority of workers thought retirement planning and financial planning programs Be Helpful would increase their productivity at work. The other programs that had higher likelihoods for increased workplace productivity include financial planning (48 percent) and health Washington, D.C. – Workers feel stressed about preparing for retirement, according to the new care planning (47 percent) programs. Interestingly, debt counseling (29 percent) was Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) report, Perceived Helpfulness of Financial Well- thought to be the least likely to be helpful for productivity. Again, younger workers were being Programs: Results from the 2017 and 2018 Retirement Confidence Surveys. While a more likely to think that some of these programs were helpful than older workers. In significant percentage of workers across the board reported feeling stressed about preparing for particular, younger (ages 25-34) workers were more likely to think that debt counseling, 1 retirement in both surveys , in particular, workers with lower incomes (64 percent), those who expense management, prioritizing savings, and budgeting programs were helpful than have not calculated how much they will need to save for retirement (65 percent), and those in fair older (ages 55 or older) workers. or poor health (75 percent) said that they strongly or somewhat agreed that preparing for retirement makes them feel stressed in the 2018 survey. In addition, workers affected by such The full Issue Brief is available here. stress reported that their productivity at work and their mental health were lower as a result. About the Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) However, a majority of workers thought that workplace financial well-being programs would be RCS is the longest-running annual survey that assesses how American workers and retirees save, either very or somewhat helpful in better preparing or saving for retirement. These include: help plan, and achieve financial security for retirement. The RCS is co-sponsored by the Employee calculating how much to save for a secure retirement (75 percent in the 2018 survey), help Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald & Associates. The 2017 and 2018 RCS data calculating how much to anticipate spending each month in retirement (72 percent), planning for collection was funded by grants from a number of public and private organizations, with staff health care expenses in retirement (72 percent), and help with comprehensive financial planning time donated by EBRI and Greenwald & Associates. RCS materials and a list of partners for (68 percent). 2017 and 2018 may be accessed at the EBRI website: www.ebri.org/surveys/rcs With 63 percent of workers considering debt to be at least a minor problem, there are a large The Employee Benefit Research Institute is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute number of workers potentially facing financial stress. The EBRI report concludes that workplace based in Washington, D.C. that focuses on health, savings, retirement, and economic security financial well-being programs could play an important role in helping workers address their issues. EBRI conducts objective research and education to inform plan design and public policy, financial struggles. does not lobby, and does not take policy positions. The work of EBRI is made possible by funding from its members and sponsors, which include a broad range of public, private, for- Other findings from the 2017 and 2018 Retirement Confidence surveys pertaining to financial profit, and nonprofit organizations. For more information go to www.ebri.org or www.asec.org well-being include: Greenwald & Associates is a leading, full-service market research firm specializing in • Thirty percent of workers overall reported worrying about finances at work. retirement, employee benefits, and health care research. For more information, go to Furthermore, of those worrying about finances, 70 percent worried at least somewhat www.greenwaldresearch.com often. Many important factors were correlated with this worrying. For example, nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of those who said debt was a major problem worried about ### finances at work, compared with just 9 percent of those who said debt was not a problem. More than half (55 percent) of those who were not confident about living comfortably in retirement were worried about finances at work vs. just 7 percent of those who were very confident. 1220 1 EBRI on Twitter: @EBRI or http://twitter.com/EBRI EBRI RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/EBRI-RSS The question was worded somewhat differently across survey years.